First of all, I'd like to say "Thank you!" to everyone for making the Giant photoshoots at D*C 2012 such a tremendous success! My many, many thanks goes to all the members of the forums who participated: The Superhero Costuming Forum, the Wolf Pack Elite, and Cosplay.com, and my many thanks also goes to the nearly 30 volunteers, sub-group directors and photographers who helped put it all together! Here's just a few pictures from last year's photoshoots!

As you can see, we had a great time this past year and got some great pictures - but like I said - we’re committed to making 2013 EVEN BETTER! And your comments and suggestions are welcomed in this thread throughout the year!

1) Times. The Subgroup photoshoots will be each day from 3:30-4:10 and the Large Group photoshoots will be each day from 4:15-5:00. Notes: A) the start time has been pushed forward by 1/2 hour to adjust for lighting conditions and to move us further away from dinner time B) the Subgroup's photoshoot time has been reduced to 40 minutes (This was about the time that all the groups had already wrapped up in 2012.) C) The 5 minutes between the subgroup and large group photos will serve as a breather / water break for the attendees.

2) Location: Hilton Patio Steps.

To increase our productivity and make the best use of our time, once again we’re going to be using all 5 sets of steps (on both sides of the patio) and the large “flat area” for the sub-group shots, and we’ll have specific directors and photographers assigned to each set and sub-group too. (Note: some sets of stairs are large enough to have a small sub-group on each side shooting at the same time.) Also note: there is no back-up location in case of rain - these groups are simply too large for any other location at the Con to handle us.

3) Duplicates / All Versions of Costumes are Allowed.

4) Costumers may choose to be in whatever sub-group they wish. Example: Batman costumers can choose either the Gotham sub-group or the JLA sub-group, etc. If your subgroup is missing a character - go recruit one!

5) Volunteer sub-group directors and photographers are wanted! This entire endeavor will be a massive team effort. In addition to planning throughout the coming year, we will have a directors/photographers meeting at 3:15 each day prior to the shoots. If you’d like to volunteer your time and talents and would like to be one of our sub-group directors or photographers on either day, please let me know!

One other note: the sub-group directors and I will be working hard to make sure every costumer gets more time in front of the camera prior to the large shoot. Our goal will be to give more attention to every individual – and get everyone more involved. If you feel that something is being overlooked - Please Speak Up and make your voice heard!

6) Individuals and Small Groups. Concerned that you have a character that’s not really a part of a larger sub-group or have a custom character design? No worries: during the sub-group photo time and after the large group photo time, we will have several individual photographers on hand to take individual & small group photos. Three of our official photographers, Bill Watters, Mary Anne Butler & Robert Brooks, will be set up with large professional black backdrops for individual picture taking!

7) No store-bought "Rubies," "Halloween Express", "Legs Avenue," Etc. costumes are allowed. I don’t think that’s going to be a problem with this group here, lol. Many of you may spends hundreds of dollars and many months working on your costume - and it's simply not fair imho to ask you to stand next to someone who spent 10 minutes and $20 on theirs. If you see a costumer in one of these costumes at the shoot, please bring them to my attention. Please also note:

Jeans and a ripped flannel shirt held together with a safety pin does NOT constitute a costume.

8) Respect your fellow costumers and please be courteous to the volunteer photographers and directors. We have a Zero Tolerance policy for harassment of any kind at these shoots. If you see any behavior that is out of line, please report it to either myself or one of the volunteer directors and we will notify hotel security to have the offending individual immediately removed from the premises (and potentially lose their D*C badge).

9) Photographers: we ask that you be courteous to our staff and to each other as well. Any photographer(s) purposefully blocking other photographer's shots will be asked to leave.

10) NO HORSEPLAY ON THE STEPS. I've seen pictures in the past of some costumers jumping or hanging themselves perilously off the sides of the steps - and this simply IS NOT ALLOWED. While it may seem like fun at the time, actions such as these run the very real risk of the Hilton a) kicking all of us off the steps immediately, b) even worse - not allowing us to utilize this location in the future and c) someone might actually get hurt. If you see this at the shoot, please bring it to my attention.

11) No Live Animals are allowed at the shoots.

12) Questions regarding whether your character/group is part of the “Universe.” Please ask if you think there’s a question! (But please don’t nitpick on issues like this either, or try to make the argument that Marvel or DC made G.I. Joe/Transformers/whatever comics or that Disney owns Marvel, etc.) Here are a couple of examples to help explain: a couple of years ago a Thulsa Doom / Conan group asked to come and while Marvel did at one time in the past have a great Conan comic I unfortunately had to turn them down. Thulsa Doom isn’t a superhero or villain, and the Conan characters aren’t a part of what most people would typically consider the "Regular" Marvel Universe. There have also been questions in the past regarding the characters from “Kick Ass,” and while Kick Ass is a Marvel Icons comic, those characters never interact with and seem to exist outside of the rest of the Marvel Universe. Those are just a couple of examples, and please know that this isn’t meant to single anyone out or scare anyone off, so if you have any questions about you of your characters’ group, please feel free to ask!

Other notes:

We're going to try and have water / cups / straws available for everyone at the shoots. (Water fountains are always available right inside too.)
We're also going to be asking for volunteers after the shoots to help pick up any trash that might have accumulated during the shoots.
We'll have 2 large ladders and 2 megaphones for both sets of large steps!
We'll also have awesome posters (with the photoshoot rules and location diagrams) again!

These are always so amazing - I had the DC panorama photo from last year as my desktop wallpaper for a long time.

Quick question: I'm part of a gender-bent Avengers group getting together for D*C 13. It's quite a large group - we have everyone but Maria and Thor at this point - would we be welcome at the Marvel shoot? Sounds like it's the kind of thing we'd have fun at, and some of the group members watched the shoot last year and loved it, I figured we'd be okay going there, but I just wanted to make sure

I'm really bummed I missed out on the DC shoot last year due to schedule conflicts with another group. >_< So I'm definitely hoping to make this year! I'm doing one Marvel costume for sure in 2013, but I'm sure I'll probably have put together another Harley variant by then too. :P

Thank you so much for organizing and putting on these shoots! 2012's marvel shoot was my first, and while it seemed so chaotic, I noticed it was REALLY well run! People got funneled into their appropriate groups quickly and without incident, each was photographed well, and the big merge into the MEGAGROUP went amazingly smoothly! Just wanted to say your hard work and organization is very much noted and appreciated! Can't wait to be a part again next year!

I will be attending DragonCon for the first time this year, and I would LOVE to be a part of these shoots! They look like a lot of fun! If all goes according to plan, I will be Helena Wayne/Huntress at least one day and MAYBE Lois Lane at some point too.

Oh my! I've seen these photos before and I've always wanted to be a part of this.

Like MissRankTwo, this year will be my first DragonCon, and I'd love to be a part of something like this.

As it stands right now, I'm up in the air between Wonder Woman, Catwoman, and Black Canary. I'm going to likely see how far I can get with each costume this year before deciding which to pick for the Con. But, this looks amazing to be a part of!

I'll be coming to Dragon Con for the first time this fall and I'm extremely excited! I'm going to be classic Wasp for the big shoot. I really hope there will be some Hank Pym cosplayers there this year because they are far too few at the other cons I've attended. I'll probably also cosplay Shatterstar and Wiccan at points during the weekend as well. ^_^